No: 73, 11 March 2017, Press Release Regarding The Relations With The Netherlands

Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 11.03.2017

The visit today (11 March) by our Foreign Minister Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to
the Netherlands to meet with the Turkish community living there and with
our diplomatic representatives has been cancelled due to the various
obstructions of the Dutch Government.

The Dutch Government has from the very start of this process adopted an
approach incompatible with diplomatic practice and customs and used every
means to prevent this visit from taking place. Responding the request of
the Dutch authorities, we had agreed to hold this meeting at the residence
of our Embassy in The Hague instead of Rotterdam. However, after the
refusal of the unacceptable demand of the Dutch side to provide them with
the list of participants to attend the meeting at a diplomatic mission, the
Dutch authorities around noon time cancelled the flight permission given to
our Foreign Minister.

Turkey and the Netherlands are two friendly and allied countries with
uninterrupted diplomatic ties for 405 years. The two countries have never
at any time taken a hostile attitude toward one another in the course of
their ties over more than four centuries. The shame and responsibility for
this unacceptable and dangerous act, in our deep rooted diplomatic
relations, belong to the Dutch Government. We condemn this hostile and
prejudicial mentality.

This stance of the Dutch authorities who on every occasion reiterate their
commitment to democracy and freedoms is an affront to the democratic rights
and honor of the Turkish community in the Netherlands. The Dutch Government
with the obstructions it created has tried to take hostage nearly
half-a-million of our citizens and to deny their most fundamental
democratic rights. The prevention of a peaceful meeting on the pretext that
it would disrupt public order indicates the incapacity and the fear of the
Dutch authorities who always emphasize to us how they embrace the Turkish
community in the Netherlands. It should be known to all that nothing will
break the legal, human and fraternal bond between us and our citizens.

The Dutch Government has taken this grave measure in conflict with
democratic and diplomatic mores entirely for domestic political
considerations. The statements made in the wake of these repressive
measures by the leader of a political party that is anti-Islam and
xenophobic, racist and populist clearly point to those behind these
decisions. Turkey and the Turkish community in the Netherlands are too big
and too strong to be sacrificed for the concessions by the Dutch Government
to a political movement that calls for a reduction in the number of certain
ethnic and religious groups in the Netherlands and for the bombing of
mosques. This situation poses a distinct threat to the Dutch and the
European peoples who believe in European values and democracy.

To protest this decision by the Dutch Government, the Charge d’Affaires of
the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ankara was summoned to the Foreign
Ministry. We informed that we did not wish the Dutch Ambassador who is
presently on leave outside of Turkey to return to his post for sometime.
Our Dutch counterparts have been told that this grave decision taken
against Turkey and the Turkish community in the Netherlands will bear
serious consequences in the diplomatic, political, economic and other
fields of our relations.

We declare solemnly to the public that we will react as we deem appropriate
without harming our long-standing friendship with the Dutch people.